Attachment of the toe piece to the vamp in a shoe of the moccasin type



March .28, R957 F|ELDNG 3,31@,888

ATTACHMENT OF THE TOE PIECE TO THE VAMP IN A SHOE OF THE MOCCASIN TYPE Filed 001;. 50, 1962 United States Patent 3,310,888 ATTACHMENT OF THE TQE FHECE T0 THE VAMP m A SHGE OF THE M'QQCAflN TYPE Ronald Fielding, Blackburn, England, assignor to Newmans Footwear Limited, Blackburn, Engiand a British company Filed Oct. 3%, 1962, Ser. No. 234,114 Claims priority, application Great Britain, May 3, 1962, 16,962/62 1 Claim. (Cl. 36-11) This invention relates to moccasin-type shoes and methods of manufacturing moccasin-type shoes. The expression moccasin-type will be used herein to describe shoes in which the upper extends under the foot of the wearer to also form at least the inner sole and in which the top of the front portion of the vamp is for-med by a toe piece or plug secured to the upper.

Various methods of securing the side and front edges of the toe piece to the corresponding edges of upper are known, but in all these, except those which involve complicated and expensive operations, the raw edges of the toe piece and the upper are visible. For example, the toe piece may be secured to the upper by hand-thonging or the toe piece and the upper may have their corresponding edge portions turned outwardly and sewn together with their inner surfaces facing each other by a row of stitching extending along the adjacent edges of the toe piece and the upper, for example, as in US. Letters Patent No. 2,974,427, issued Mar. 14,1961, to W. C. Wolff. References herein to the inner or the outer surface of the toe piece or the upper refer to the surfaces which are on the inside or the outside respectively of the finished shoe. As the material used is normally leather, the inner surface is the fiesh side and the outer surface is the finished or grain side of the leather.

In order to conceal the raw edges in a shoe produced by the second method described above it is possible to apply binding over the outwardly directed edges of the toe piece and upper. Further a special type of sewing machine attachment is known which sews a marginal portion of the toe piece over the outwardly directed edge of the upper giving a raised effect to the adjacent secured together edges, but still leaving a raw edge opposed at the outside of the moccasin, for example, as in US. Letters Patent No. 1,139,153 issued May 11, 1915, to W. S. Bass.

The object of the invention is to provide a moccasintype shOe and a method of manufacturing a moccasintype shoe in which the toe piece or plug is attached to the upper in such a way that the secured together edges are concealed or enclosed without the necessity of employing a separate binding.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a moccasin-type shoe has the adjacent edges of its toe piece and upper secured to each other by a first row of stitching extending along such edges close to the latter, and the edges and the first row of stitching are enclosed in a rolled bead formed by the marginal portion of the toe piece which is secured in a rolled or helical configuration by a second row of stitching pressing through both the toe piece and upper.

The invention also consists in a method of manufacturing a moccasin-type shoe in which the toe piece is attached to the upper by a first row of stitching extending along thin adjacent edges, and in which the edges and the first row of stitching are concealed in a fold or rolled bead formed in the toe piece by a second row of stitching.

In accordance with the method embodying the invention, the corresponding edges of the toe piece and the upper are initialy sewn together with their outer or finished surfaces facing each other by a first row of stitching lo- 3,310,888 Patented Mar. 23, 1967 cated close to the adjacent edges, the thus attached toe piece and upper are thereafter inverted or turned inside out so that the finished surfaces thereof appear at the outside of the shoe and the secured together edges are directed inwardly, and the marginal portion of the toe piece is rolled over the previously secured together edges of the toe piece and upper and sewn to the latter by a second row of stitching to form a rolled bead which completely encloses the edges of the toe piece and upper and the first row of stitching.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate two leather blanks used in the manufacture of a moccasin-type shoe according to the invention,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the shoe following a first sewing operation for joining the toe piece to the upper,

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 3, but showing the shoe after it has been everted or turned inside out,

FIGURE 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line VV on FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the completed shoe produced in accordance with this invention, and

FIGURE 7 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line VIIVII on FIGURE 6.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 it wil be seen that, as in all true moccasin-type shoes, the vamp consists of a single piece or blank 9 of leather which forms the upper and also the sole extending under the foot of the wearer. The blank of leather 9 is shown in the form in which it is cut out and consists of a generally pointed front portion 1 and a rear portion which includes a cut-out 2 for the heel or stay piece (not shown) of the shoe.

FIGURE 2 of the drawings shows the blank 10 of leather used for the toe piece or plug.

In the first operation of joining the toe piece 10 to the vamp 9, the toe piece is stitched to the vamp with the grain or finished side of the toe piece facing the grain or finished side of the upper or vamp. The toe or front end portion 4 of the toe piece is adjacent to the toe portion 3 of the upper and the stitching is carried out so that the side edge 7 of the toe piece is lined up with the side edge 5 of the upper and the side edge 8 of the toe piece is lined up with the side edge 6 of the upper. The toe piece is initially secured to the upper by a single row of machine stitching 11 extending parallel with the edges 3 and 4, 5 and 7, and 6 and 8 and spaced only a small distance from such edges of the toe piece and upper.

It will be seen from FIGURE 3 that the stage just described causes a part of a shoe to be formed with the flesh sides of the toe piece and the upper on the outside and with the edges secured by stitching 11 being directed outwardly. Accordingly the shoe is now everted so that the grain or finished sides of the toe piece and upper are on the outside and further so that the secured together edges are inwardly directed, as is clearly apparent on FIGURES 4 and 5. After the shoe has been everted or turned inside out, the marginal portion of toe piece 10 is rolled helically about the secured together edges of the toe piece and upper, and a further single row of machine stitching 12 is app-lied in the position illustrated on FIG- URE 7. This operation produces :1 rolled bead 13 enclosing and concealing the edges of the toe piece and upper and the stitching 11, such head 13 is exaggerated for purposes of illustration in FIGURE 4, but is visible in its final form in FIGURE 6.

It will be seen that the described method of joining the toe piece to the upper produces a seam in which there is no raw edge visible and in addition in which there is no 3 raw edge or bulky seam on the inside of the shoe which is likely to hurt the foot. This is due to the fact that the two raw edges which are produced after the first stitching stage are enclosed in the rolled bead 13 which is locked by the second row of stitching 12.

The methods used for performing the remaining operations on the shoe, for example, the attachment of an outer sole and heel, if required, or stay piece may be conventional and are not described herein since they form no part of the present invention.

However, it will be noticed in FIGURES 3, 4 and 6 that binding is shown at 14 on the edges of the part of the upper behind the toe piece and this binding is preferably applied before the toe piece and upper are joined and is carried forward for a short distance along the edges 5 and 6 to which the toe piece will be attached so that the two ends of the binding 14 are also concealed Within the rolled bead 13.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A moccasin-type shoe, comprising a vamp member for defining a sole and upper, a toe piece having a free rear edge, a first line of stitching securing the remainder of the perimeter of said toe piece to the toe portion of said vamp member, said first line of stitching being very close 25 to the edges of the vamp member and the toe piece, a second line of stitching passing through the toe piece and being spaced inwardly from and parallel with said first line of stitching, said second line of stitching also passing through the vamp member and being spaced inwardly from said first line of stitching in the latter, the spacing of said first and second lines of stitching along said toe piece being greater than the spacing of said first and second lines of stitching along said vamp member, the marginal part of the toe piece between said first and second lines of stitching having a helically rolled configuration constituting a bead tightly closed at the inside by said second line of stitching and totally enclosing said first line of stitching and the edges of the toe piece and vamp member secured together by the latter, and said edges of the toe piece and vamp member being directed outwardly within said enclosing bead.

References Cited by the Examiner PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

FRANK I. COHEN, JORDAN FRANKLIN, EDWARD V. BENHAM, Examiners.

H. H. HUNTER, Assistant Examiner. 

